Collaborate Disseminate
You might think of the smartwatch era as beginning with Apple, relatively recently. Or, you might think back to those fancy Timex models with the datalink thing going on in …read more Continue reading Seiko Had A Smartwatch In 1984
The BlackCat ransomware gang has claimed credit for a cybersecurity attack against Japanese watchmaker Seiko.
BlackCat (also known as ALPHAV) posted on its dark web leak site what it claims are files stolen from Seiko’s servers. Continue reading BlackCat ransomware gang claims credit for Seiko data breach
Back in 1956, Seiko created their “magic lever” as an integral part of self-winding mechanical watches, which were essentially mechanical energy harvesters. The magic lever is a type of ratcheting …read more Continue reading 3D Print Your Own Seiko-Style “Magic Lever” Energy Harvester
The Apple Watch has been on the market for long enough that its earlier iterations are now unsupported. Where some see little more than e-waste others see an opportunity, as …read more Continue reading Apple Invent The Mechanical Watch
While the current generation of smartwatches have only been on the market for a few years, companies have been trying to put a computer on your wrist since as far back as the 80s with varying degrees of success. One such company was Seiko, who in 1984 unveiled the UC-2000: a delightfully antiquated attempt at bridging the gap between wristwatch and personal computer. Featuring a 4-bit CPU, 2 KB of RAM, and 6 KB of ROM, the UC-2000 was closer to a Tamagotchi than its modern day counterparts, but at least it could run BASIC.
Ever since he saw the …read more
Watch aficionados have a certain lust for mechanical watches. These old school designs rely on a spring that’s wound up to store energy. The movement, an intricate set of gears and other mechanical bits, ensures that the hands on the watch face rotates at the right speed. They can be considered major feats of mechanical engineering, with hundreds of pieces in an enclosure that fits on the wrist. They’re quite cheap, and you have to pay a lot for accuracy.
Quartz watches are what you usually see nowadays. They use a quartz crystal oscillator, usually running at 32.768 kHz. These …read more
Continue reading Keeping Time with a Spring Powered Integrated Circuit
